| New King James Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, | 1The LORD said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives, |
| 2except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; | 2except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother. |
| 3also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. | 3He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family. |
| 4Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. | 4He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage and so defile himself. |
| 5‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. | 5"Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies. |
| 6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. | 6They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they present the fire offerings to the LORD, the food of their God, and they must be holy. |
| 7They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. | 7They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution. They are not to marry one divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. |
| 8Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. | 8You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the LORD who sets you apart, am holy. |
| 9The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire. | 9If a priest's daughter defiles herself by promiscuity, she defiles her father; she must be burned to death. |
| 10‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; | 10"The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the clothes, must not dishevel his hair or tear his clothes. |
| 11nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; | 11He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother. |
| 12nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD. | 12He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD. |
| 13And he shall take a wife in her virginity. | 13"He is to marry a woman who is a virgin. |
| 14A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. | 14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, |
| 15Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the LORD sanctify him.’ ” | 15so that he does not corrupt his bloodline among his people, for I am the LORD who sets him apart." |
| 16And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 16The LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 17“Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. | 17"Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect is to come near to present the food of his God. |
| 18For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long, | 18No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; |
| 19a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, | 19no man who has a broken foot or hand, |
| 20or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. | 20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. |
| 21No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the LORD. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. | 21No descendant of the priest Aaron who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the LORD. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. |
| 22He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; | 22He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. |
| 23only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the LORD sanctify them.’ ” | 23But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the LORD who sets them apart." |
| 24And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel. | 24Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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